[2] Many of his works examined race relations and featured In the Heat of the Night star Sidney Poitier.
Once World War II broke out, he left to join the Marines during which he served as a combat correspondent.
[3] In the early years of television, he wrote for Studio One and then moved on to write episodes of Mister Peepers (1952–53).
He was one of the writers on Spring Reunion (1957), notable as Betty Hutton's final film, following with Warlock (1959), and his earlier association with Cassavetes led to script contributions on the actor's directorial debut with Shadows (1959).
Three plays written by Aurthur were produced on Broadway: A Very Special Baby (1956), Kwamina (1961), and Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights (1968).
Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights was directed by Sidney Poitier and starred African-American stars Louis Gossett Jr. and Cicely Tyson; the plot involved a young Jewish man who insisted on becoming a slave to an African-American law student as a penance for the years of wrongs whites have done to blacks.